Gossip: Local sculptor drives work cross-country

Jeanné McCartin has her eyes and ears out for Seacoast gossip. E-mail maskmakernh@aol.com.

Comment

By Jeanné McCartin

seacoastonline.com

By Jeanné McCartin

Posted Jul. 10, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Jeanné McCartin

Posted Jul. 10, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

Special delivery

Neither long miles nor tornados could deter Steven Carpenter from getting the very fragile John Phelp from York, Maine, to Oregon, Ill. He crated up the gent and hauled him nearly halfway across the country, where he'll be cast in bronze and placed in a park created in his honor.

Carpenter's sculpture of the Oregon's founder was the 10th and final in a series of sculptures commissioned by the Community Art Legacy, which has installed 10 in 10 years by as many artists. All previous works were part of individual contests; the final a commission.

Carpenter grew up in Oregon, and heard about the contest through his brother. He returned home for his wedding in 2013 with sketches in tow, and met with the commissioning committee.

"Then two weeks later I got it," he says.

He started in February and completed the clay sculpture early last month, "and just ran it out there on the back of my truck last week," he adds.

The piece depicts the town founder and guide along a riverside in high relief. It measures approximately eight feet wide and six feet high, before being mounted on a pedestal.

Carpenter worked out of the studio of sculptors Lindley and Jeffrey Briggs in Newburyport, Mass., because his own was too small to accommodate.

"I took it out in its clay form. Believe me, it was a scary ride. ...; Jeffrey helped me box it up. It was an amazing job, so it felt secure, but it was an interesting ride dodging storms and tornados," Carpenter says. "But we made it."

The town, once the site of the Eagle Nest Art Colony, still has a foundry where the piece will be cast in bronze. The town is also commissioning a designer for its final park resting place.

"I'll be bidding on that as well," says Carpenter, owner of Standing Stone, a stonescaping and garden design business.

"I was so excited to get an opportunity like this, especially in the town I started out in."

Carpenter and collaborator Christopher Gowell have worked on the Portland Fisherman Memorial commission, and are still waiting word on the next step.

Carpenter's work can be seen in the current Sanctuary Arts exhibition (Eliot, Maine).

Visit www.standingstonescapes.com.

for the kids

There is yet another PPMtv series in the works, according to creator Miles Burns, associate artistic director and director of youth programming.

Burns wrote the first tune for "The Upside of Being Down" about eight years ago and went on to fashion it into a youth stage production. Now it's being retooled as a series for kids.

PPMtv Executive Director Bill Humphreys

and Taylor Michael have both signed on for the project.

"I've always wanted to do sort of a kid show ...; storytelling with songs, using my songs," Miles says.

The play is based on real children's experiences at the Portsmouth Arts Performance Academy summer camp, which he's worked the past eight years. Its themes include childhood diabetes, shyness, autism, insecurity and other issues children face.

Burns has produced "Upside" on stage numerous times in different locations, reworking it for each show. The challenge is finding a through-line, he says. "There's a lot of different messages in it. I've always wanted to do it as vignettes — scenes. So I'm psyched."

The plan is to produce 10 to 20, 20-minute episodes, each addressing a single issue.

"For me, I'm better at that — going short and to the point," Burns says.

They hope to audition this summer, and produce during the season and into the winter.

"It's a kids' show with adult sentiment," Burns says. "But the main thing it's about is being OK with the person you are no matter what happens."

A birthday bash

Expect a bit bigger and better bash in honor of John Paul Jones' birthday at his old Portsmouth lodgings this year on July 13. Discover Portsmouth is taking on the organizing at the request of the Jones House team.

"We just decided that the staff at Discover would take a whack at making it more a festival-like birthday celebration," Marketing and Communications Director Laura Calhoun says. (Both Discover Portsmouth and the house are part of the Portsmouth Historical Society.)

"The only hesitation was whether I would be able to control myself from having a cannon at it. I wanted fireworks, and a John Paul Jones kissing booth," Calhoun says.

The first got a no, the second failed because no one was willing to take it on, she adds.

"I also wanted a 'dunk your favorite historical figure,'" the creative woman continues. "We had grand ideas but had to whittle them down to meet code and what was legal."

The festivities will start with the event's traditional opening ceremony, with a color guard presenting colors as the national anthem is played. Then will come the Great Bay Sailor Band on the lawn, with "maritime and Irish and Scottish traditional" music as the first departure.

Among this year's additions, J. Dennis Robinson will present a program across the street at Discover Portsmouth and there will be a pie-eating contest for kids. Historical figure Silas Dean (played by George Hosker-Bouley) will wander the lawn.

"We wanted to increase the scope of the audience," Calhoun says. "Everyone says they went there in the third grade. It would be nice to have them come back more than once. ...; We're making it more accessible and fun and less stuffy."

The fun starts the day before with a pink flock fund-raiser, she adds. One hundred flamingos will perch on the Jones House lawn — the handiwork of Ed Valena.

The flamingos will be sold for $15 each, or two for $25, to benefit the nonprofit.

"Ed handmade all the flamingos and wanted to donate them to us. ...; He says he's seen these campaigns have success in the past," Calhoun says. "They're really cool — and their heads bob."

This year's celebration is the start of things to come, she adds. Next year they hope to expand on it.